Vol.3 Ch.3: The Student Council ③

---

The sun had set beneath the cloudy sky, and darkness enveloped the district. Students were all beginning to head back to the dorms as the streetlights sparked to life, becoming their illuminated guideposts.

Among these students were five individuals making their way towards Rigel Park, all from a different direction. Each of them wore a small radio earpiece.

“Our patrol begins now.” whispered Kanna into her earpiece.

“Got it.” Shizuo reported back.

Rigel Park is one of a few notable recreational outdoor spots in the eastern district, situated in the northwest corner of the area. Normally it’s taken care of by the nature club, but due to a lack of new members this year, the student council has been appointing volunteers to tend to the area while campaigning with various students to reform the club. Unfortunately, due to the amount of labor involved in the upkeep, there haven’t been too many interested students.

Regardless, this means that Rigel Park as a whole is lacking in consistent supervision, which is a known issue by the student council in the first place. This fact is also how the incidents earlier in April were able to occur with so few witnesses as well. That being said, even when it was being maintained, it was rare for anyone to come to the park after dark, but that is especially true now.

The student council all made their way in along their specified routes. Megumi entered from the park’s main entrance to the east, while Tsutomu took a dirt path that came in from the south. Makoto and Shizuo entered through the untended woods, pushing their way through various bushes and foliage. Kanna had entered ahead of time and was currently patrolling the area around the lake.

If there truly was someone hiding in this park, there’s no doubt that one of the student council members would run into them.

“No sign of anyone along the usual paths…” Megumi quietly reported. “The last students seemed to have been leaving just as I was coming in.”

“Understood.” Kanna responded. “The area near the lake is vacant. It is likely we are the only students still in the park.”

“Haven’t run into anyone in the woods… Ow, my glasses!” Makoto groaned, kneeling to find his glasses that had been knocked off by a stray tree branch.

“Yep, nothing around here but some squirrels…” Shizuo yawned.

“Understood.” Kanna acknowledged. “Tsutomu? Anything to report?”

“N-not really, no…” the boy quietly muttered over the radio as he paced through the dirt pathways on his own.

“Okay. Everyone, stay attentive and keep us informed.” Kanna ordered.

The others all acknowledged the order and continued their patrols.

Could it be that no one is here after all? Or perhaps, the culprit has already changed location…

Kanna could only ponder the situation as she scanned her surroundings before glancing at her reflection in the surface of the lake.

Slowly but surely, time passed. The glowing moon rose further into the sky, peeking out just a tiny bit between the dark clouds filling the night sky. Just as many of the members were growing impatient, a voice popped up over their radios.

“Ugh, are we done yet?” the voice was Makoto, complaining. “If none of us have seen anyone yet, it’s pretty obvious that we’re the only ones out here…”

“Nnh…” Kanna was frustrated, but she couldn’t deny his words. “Well… I suppose we should…”

“Wait…” Makoto suddenly whispered.

The other members snapped their attention to their radios at Makoto’s unusual reaction.

“Someone’s… there…” whispered Makoto in disbelief.

Just as he was about to give up, he noticed someone in a dark cloak sitting against a tree a little was ahead of him. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

“It seems the culprit… has been found.” Kanna whispered.

The rest of the student council members all stood in shock. Surely, it seems many of them weren’t actually expecting to find anyone.

“Ishigami, approach carefully… Do not let them escape.” Kanna calmly ordered.

“Right…” Makoto affirmed.

After taking a moment to prepare himself, Makoto slowly made his way forward toward the figure. Unfortunately, the bushes were too loud, even from his careful movements, and after a few steps, the figure raised their head, having spotted Makoto.

“…!”

An awkward silence followed for a few moments, with both of them as still as a statue. It was too dark for Makoto to make out the figure’s face, but he could tell that they must’ve been relatively young, or at least short in stature.

In order to break the silence, Makoto finally spoke up.

“Excuse me, what are you doing out here?” he asked, trying to remain calm.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, the figure instantly jolted to their feet and dashed away.

“Dammit, they’re running!” Makoto reported in frustration as he shuffled to make his way after the escaping figure.

“Do not let them out of your sight!” Kanna ordered, now on high alert.

“I’m trying!” Makoto spat in frustration as he pushed his way through the rough bushes and branches to follow after the figure.

This is strange… The focal point of this plan was to use ourselves as bait to catch the culprit before they could act. Why would they flee from an individual like Ishigami? Could I be mistaken after all…?

Kanna’s mind raced trying to process the current situation. As she did, other voices began to pop up over the radio.

“President! What should we be doing?!” Megumi asked over the radio.

“Ah, of course! One moment…” Kanna took a moment to collect herself. “Ishigami, do you still have a visual of the culprit? What direction did they flee?”

“Dammit…” Makoto muttered as he knocked away another branch blocking his way. He took out a flashlight and tried to scan the area but to no avail. “I lost them… They were fleeing south, I think…”

“Ono, that is your position! Stay vigilant!” Kanna ordered.

“R-right, of course!” Megumi affirmed, scanning the area with her flashlight, trying to catch sight of anyone dashing through.

“No good… I don’t see anyone…!” Megumi reported.

Megumi’s patrol area consisted of the many paths near the entrance to the park, so there were many blind spots depending on her location. Frantically she ran from intersection to intersection, checking any nearby woods in addition to the paths themselves. Even if someone came through here, it would be very easy to miss them in these labyrinthine pathways.

“It is possible they veered in my direction, towards the lake. I shall keep watch here. Ishigami, go help Ono search the regular trails!” Kanna ordered as she pointed her flashlight to and fro as well.

“Right.” Makoto confirmed, pushing himself through the woods.

A few moments later, Megumi quickly turned around after hearing some rustling in the bushes. Point her flashlight in that direction, she spotted…

“It’s just me.” Makoto scoffed.

“Jeez, don’t scare me like that, little Ishigami.” Megumi heaved a heavy sigh.

“I’ll keep looking around here. You go check the southernmost paths. If they’re headed in that direction, they’re probably already in that area.” Makoto said to Megumi.

“Got it.” Megumi nodded, before turning around and jogging back to the southern paths.

“Yamamura, keep an eye out!” Kanna ordered over the radio, having heard the prior exchange. With Shizuo stationed in the woods at the southern corner of the park, he would also be highly likely to run into the escaping figure.

“Gotcha!” Shizuo acknowledged, as he too scanned his surroundings with a flashlight. “So far nothin’, I’ll keep lookin’!”

“Stay vigilant.” Kanna spoke, before letting out a heavy sigh.

How could I have let the situation come to this? Despite all of us being here, it appears that it is not so easy to catch an individual out here in the park after all…

Kanna’s worries only continued to accumulate.

Time passed, with the members of the student council failing to give any update as to whether they spotted anyone or not. For her part, Kanna scanned the surroundings of the lake again, before heading into the woods herself to try and widen her search area. No matter what anyone did, the hooded figure just was not turning up anywhere. By this point, the group began to wonder whether they should just give up.

“This feels… rather hopeless.” Megumi spoke sadly. Finally putting into words what was on everyone’s minds.

“Perhaps… that is so.” Kanna clenched her fist in frustration.

It was at that moment when…

“A-ah… Um… I think I see…” Tsutomu’s quiet voice came over the radio.

“Ah…!” Kanna suddenly realized that Tsutomu hadn’t said anything at all this whole time. It’d gotten to the point where Kanna had almost forgotten he was here, but he was charged with patrolling the dirt paths to the south. That is definitely an area where the figure could have escaped too.

“Azuma, did you spot something?” Kanna asked cautiously.

“Y-yeah, there’s a… Huh?” Tsutomu suddenly stopped speaking.

“Azuma…?” Kanna tried getting his attention, but then...

“Ahh…. AHH!” Tsutomu screamed before the radio suddenly cut off entirely.

“Azuma… Azuma!!” Kanna shouted. “Yamamura, run to aid Azuma, quickly!”

“Already on it!” Shizuo grunted as he sprinted through the woods at full speed towards the area west of his location where Tsutomu should’ve been.

This is bad… This is bad…!

Kanna, who was already heading in that direction anyway, also began to sprint down towards Tsutomu’s area. Makoto and Megumi, who heard the whole exchange over the radio, had both also decided to head in that direction after a moment’s hesitation.

Before long, all the student council members had converged at the dirt pathways on the southern side of the park.

“Azuma…! Azuma!!”

Just as they arrived, small droplets of water began to fall onto them. The student council members all glanced toward the dark, cloudy night sky.

“Rain… at a time like this…” Kanna grimaced.

Just as the group began to lament the weather, Shizuo’s voice broke through and reached them all.

“Guys! Over here!” he shouted from further down the path.

At his call, the other members all raced down the path, reaching Shizuo’s location. There waiting for them was…

“Azuma…!” Kanna called out, her voice filled with concern, as she ran up to the collapsed boy being held up by Shizuo.

“He’s out cold…” Shizuo grimaced. “Wh-what should we do?”

“Azuma…” Kanna stroked the collapsed boy’s cheek, damped by the gently falling rain.

I am a fool. An utter fool. How could I… How could I have allowed this to happen?!

Kanna’s fist slammed into the moistening dirt on the ground beside her.

“President, how is he? Should we get him to the clinic?” Megumi approached, concerned.

“Yes… Ishigami, call for the clinic staff immediately.” Kanna answered, after a moment’s hesitation.

“On it.” Makoto nodded, dialing the number on his phone.

“Azuma… Forgive me.” Kanna whispered.

As she whispered those words, she glared fiercely at a small area near Tsutomu’s neck. A small spot she’d intentionally made sure to check.

Without any doubt, Kanna recognized the two small wounds on his neck that somewhat resembled a pair of bug bites.

“I will… make this right.” Kanna whispered, a hint of anger in her voice.

A moment later, as Kanna finally lifted her head, by total coincidence she saw it.

“… Wait…” Kanna blinked in disbelief, thinking the rain may have been playing tricks on her.

But no, she was certain… Just a little ways away, hiding behind a tree and glancing out toward the group… was a hooded figure.

“YOU…!!” Kanna’s face distorted in anger as she jolted to her feet. Immediately, the hooded figure she’d locked her eyes on twitched and began to run away.

“P-prez…?!” stuttered a startled Shizuo.

“Ah…” Kanna glanced back at him and the other student council members.

“Everyone, please remain here and await the students from the clinic. Take care of Azuma. I shall return momentarily.”

With those words, Kanna quickly dashed off running before anyone else could get a word in.

You shall not escape from me…!

With that determination in her mind, the enraged girl dashed through the woods, stamping down all kinds of shrubbery and twigs along the way. Rain drops splashed against her face as she made her way deeper into the woods at top speed. It was dark, but she managed to catch a glimpse of the hooded figure once more.

“Halt…!” Kanna shouted, to no avail. The figure continued trying to escape.

No good… Even as I run at full speed, I am gaining no ground. Then, could this person really be…?!

Kanna grimaced, finally making a decision.

“I said halt….!!” Kanna shouted as she reached her hand out to her right.

Toward the center of her palm, several of the falling rain droplets gathered, beginning to converge and solidify. Within a mere moment, the ice took on the shape of a small dagger.

“Hyah…!” Kanna gathered her strength and tossed the dagger of ice at the escaping figure. Just as the projectile zoomed through the wall of rain, the hooded figure glanced over their shoulder…

“Eep…!” a voice squeaked out, before the figure sharply turned its body direction and hopped to the side, narrowly dodging the dagger of ice.

Due to the maneuver, the hood on the figure’s cloak flowed upward from the wind. Despite the darkness with little light, Kanna just barely caught a glimpse of the culprit’s face. There, before her was…

“Is that… a young girl?” Kanna blinked. However, just at that moment…

“Ahh…!”

Kanna slipped.

The strength of the rain had steadily been increasing, and a section of the ground had already begun to become slick like mud. Kanna failed to account for this, and ended up slipping and falling on her face.

“Guh… No…!” gritting her teeth, Kanna pushed herself up from the ground and glanced around.

Sure enough, the young hooded girl was no longer anywhere to be seen.

“No… I lost her…! Damn…!” Kanna slammed her fist into the ground in frustration.

“But why… Why is a girl like that here? What is happening in this district…?!”

As the rainfall continued to beat down on Kanna’s back, she finally accepted that their operation that night had been a bust.

“Azuma… Forgive my negligence…”

Kanna lamented her protégé Tsutomu becoming the next victim of the ‘anemia’ outbreak. She realized far too late that despite her fears, she had treated the situation too lightly.

Before long, Kanna rose to her feet once more and started making her way back to the dirt path where the others had waited. By the time she returned, the health club members had already arrived with a stretcher and were preparing to transport Tsutomu to the clinic.

Why…?

Kanna could only clench her fist, feeling regret at how things had unfolded. But it wasn’t just regret. She also felt a strong confusion. Confusion caused by a bizarre truth that only her, as a girl from another world, could reach in this situation.

Why is a vampire here…?!